For the opposition, the new regulation “will further marginalise beggars” and is, as far as the fight against organised begging is concerned, “a cheap electoral gimmick”. Photo: Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne archives

For the opposition, the new regulation “will further marginalise beggars” and is, as far as the fight against organised begging is concerned, “a cheap electoral gimmick”. Photo: Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne archives

The DP-CSV majority adopted, on Monday 27 March, a regulation that bans begging in the capital. The opposition voted against the measure, denouncing it as unenforceable, symbolic and politically motivated.

After lengthy debates at the Luxembourg City Council on Monday, the DP-CSV majority adopted the ban. It will be effective from 7:00am to 10:00pm and cover the city’s parks and public squares, as well as a number of streets, mainly in the Ville-Haute but also in the Gare, including the Avenue de la Liberté and Avenue de la Gare.

“The phenomenon of organised begging has taken on a scale that we can no longer control,” explained councillor  (CSV) to Delano’s sister publication Paperjam, justifying the introduction of such a measure and pointing out that actions to stop organised begging have not been very effective.

“Pure window dressing”

The opposition déi Gréng-LSAP-déi Lénk voted against the regulation, denouncing it as “unenforceable” and purely “symbolic”. For déi Gréng, the ban--which covers both organised and non-organised begging--“will further marginalise beggars” and is, as far as the fight against organised begging is concerned, a “cheap electoral gimmick”.

While this problem must be “taken seriously”, déi Gréng observes that regulations on this matter already exist. In 2019 and 2020, respectively, the police and the judiciary recorded 12 and 42 cases throughout the country, showing that actions have been taken and “in accordance with the rule of law”.

For the green party, the general ban is thus “pure window dressing”. “Instead of a symbolic policy motivated by electoral considerations, we need a comprehensive approach to social and security policy issues,” said the party.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.